Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: With Congress deciding not to field any candidate against Samajwadi Party’s ‘bahu’ Dimple Yadav in Kannauj on Tuesday, the conjectures of a UPA-SP alliance in 2014 Lok Sabha polls got sharper even though Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh denied any “pre-poll alliance”.
Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, today filed her nomination for the Lok Sabha by-election from Kannauj. The Congress has decided not to field any candidate for the constituency.
It should be noted that in 2009, Dimple had been badly trounced by Congress` Raj Babbar in the by-election for the Firozabad Parliamentary seat.
The Kannauj by-election, being held on June 24, has been necessitated following the resignation of Akhilesh Yadav after his election to the Legislative Council.
The Congress decision seems to be sketching new contours of UPA-SP relations and seems to be hinting at a secret rapport being forged between the two parties with an eye on 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh sought to deny the same by saying that the Congress would go to 2014 LS polls alone and “there was no question of a pre-poll alliance.”
Talking to a TV channel, Digvijay Singh said that the Samajwadi Party is supporting UPA-II the same way as it had been supporting UPA-I.
Commenting at the decision of not fielding any candidate from Kannauj, Singh said that the Congress had not done so in 2009 either.
"Political equations have changed from 2009 to 2012," said Digvijay.
“We had not contested the seat (Kannauj) in the 2009 Lok Sabha election and we are not contesting it now," Singh said.
He also said that as the people of UP had elected the Samajwadi Party with a majority; the Congress will just play the role of a “constructive” opposition.
But, the Congress seems to be on a seriously “constructive” mode with the SP, drawing new equations given the way things have been going between the two parties recently.
Not too long ago, at the grand third anniversary of UPA –II, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was seen sharing the front dais with Sonia Gandhi. This seating arrangement too did much to fuel the rumours of a secret love affair between the Congress and the SP.
Though Congress and the SP have been denying any such alliance between them, only 2014 will tell which way the winds will blow.
